Mounting foot member



June 4, 1963 B. A. SARAFINAS MOUNTING FOOT MEMBER Filed Sept. 14, 1961 Inveador.

Bruno fl. Sarajzlms, y K U m? United States Patent 3,092,364 MGUNTING F001 MEMBER Bruno A. Sarafinas, Saugus, Mass, assignor to United- Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 138,173 2 Claims. (Cl. 24835t This invention aims to provide an improved mounting foot member for use as a support for such devices as telephone bases, it being equally applicable to other devices.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple twopiece mounting foot member including a cushion body of flexible material and :a fastener member assembled therewith, the fastener member having at least one snap fastener projection extending beyond the top face of the foot member for snap engagement with a suitable portion of the base of the device of the unit to be supported.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mounting foot member as set forth in the previous paragraph in which the fastener member also has a threaded means for engagement with a cooperating threaded means to assist in assembling a device inside the base of the unit to be supported.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple inexpensive mounting foot device which may be snapped into place on the bottom of a unit of present commercial construction to take the place of a more complicated more expensive device now in use.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the base portion of a commercial telephone showing the improved mounting foot members in attached positions;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 22- of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the improved mounting foot member;

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the mounting foot member;

FIG. 6 is an edge view of the mounting foot member;

FIG. 7 is a section taken on the line 77 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the fastener member of the mounting foot member; and

FIG. 9 is an edge view of the fastener member shown in FIG. 8.

Referring to the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated by the various figures of the drawing, there is shown a mounting foot member in connection with the base of the current type of telephone device. 'It should be understood that this same type of mounting foot member, in any desired shape, might be used on other devices such as typewriters, radios, etc., where it is desired to have one or more mounting feet for supporting the device to prevent scratching of furniture and to prevent sliding of the device relative to the furniture.

The specific mounting foot member illustrated is a simple two-piece device including a cushion body 1 of flexible material such as rubber or any of the known soft injection moldable plastic materials and a fastener member 2 preferably formed of a spring type metal so that parts thereof may be yieldable. The cushion body 1 is provided with a recess 3 in the bottom portion thereof and a central aperture 4 together with two other apertures 5-5, all of which apertures extend from the recess 3 through the top surface of the cushion body 1. The fastener member 2 has a base portion 6 substantially the same shape as the recess 3 and fits into the recess so that when the foot member is in use the base portion 6 cannot come in contact with the article upon which the telephone or other device rests. A threaded tubular nut portion 7,

3,092,364 Patented June 4, 1963 preferably integral with the base portion 6 extends upwardly into the aperture 4 in the cushion body (FIG. 7) and has its free upper end portion 8 flared outwardly to assist in holding the device in assembly with the cushion body and also act as an entering guide for the end of a threaded screw or bolt. The fastener member 2 also is provided with two snap fastener leg portions 9-9 extending from the base 6 through the apertures 55 and beyond the upper surface of the cushion body as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The end portions of the legs 9-9 are bent downwardly toward the cushion body 1 (FIG. 7) and are divided into support engaging portions lo -'10 and apertured wall engaging portions 11-11, the purposes of which will be described more fully hereafter. The legs 9 9 and the apertures 55 are so proportioned that there is frictional contact between the walls surrounding the apertures 5-5 and the edges of the legs thereby also assisting in holding the snap fastener member 2 in assembly with the cushion body 1.

The mounting foot members have been so constructed and arranged that they will fit standard telephone bases now in general use; and in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 there is illustnated the manner in which the improved mounting foot members may be attached to the telephone base unit with. out making any changes in the hole, locations, or sizes, thereby providing an inexpensive simple unit that may be easily and quickly attached to present devices and in a less expensive manner than the mounting foot members now in use.

In FIG. 1 there is an illustration of the use of applicants invention in connection with a telephone base unit 12 and in FIGS. 2 and 3 sections are shown to illustnate the manner of assembly and the use of the device in in connection with the base unit 12. At the bottom of the telephone base unit 12, there is provided a plate member '13 substantially of the size and shape of the base; and it is to this plate member 13 that the foot members are attached. The plate member 13 is provided with apertures 1'4- 14 through which the ends of the legs 9-9 of the fastener 2 are forced until the ends of the support engaging portions 1i)10 snap over the base 13 and locate the foot member in position as best shown in FIG. 3. The wall engaging portions 1111 are not absolutely essential to the device, but they are useful to the extent that when the foot members are in position these wall engaging portions 11-11 cooperate with oppositely associated portions of the legs 99 to maintain the foot member in a given relation to the base 13 and prevent lateral movement of the foot members relative to the telephone base unit 12.

The tubular threaded nut member 7 of the fastener member 2 is in alignment with an aperture 15 in the base plate 13 thereby permitting a screw member .16 (FIG. 3) to pass through a bracket portion 17 of a device to be mounted within the telephone base unit and engage the nut portion 7 to hold the parts in assembly. Thus it will be seen that the improved mounting foot member is easily and quickly assembled with a telephone base unit and adapts itself to the construction of the telephone base unit without the necessity of the manufacturer making changes in the present construction while at the same time providing a completely satisfactory mounting foot device.

The above described unproved mounting foot members easily take the place of presently known devices (that are riveted and/ or bolted in place.

It should be noted that the mounting foot member illustrated and described is formed of two single pieces 1 and 2. thereby reducing the assembly to a minimum number of parts. With this construction the cushion body may be molded as a separate unit and the snap fastener member 3 manufactured as a separate metal member and the two pieces may be easily assembled after the complete formation of those parts. It is obvious that this construction is better and less expensive than a device Where a metal fastener is made of more than one piece and is insert molded with the cushion body member as has been the case heretofore.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it should be understood that the invention is best set forth by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A mounting foot member for a device such as a telephone base unit, said foot member having a cushion body of flexible material for supporting a. telephone base unit thereon and a fastener member assembled with said cushion body, said dasten'er member having a base portion located in 'a recess in said cushion body, a tubular nut member extending from said base portion into an aperture in the cushion body and snap fastener leg members also extending from said base portion into apertures in said cushion body, said leg members having yieldable portions extending beyond a top face of said cushion body to snap through apertures in a telephone base unit.

2. A mounting foot member for a device such as a telephone base unit, said foot member having a cushion body of flexible material :for supporting a telephone base unit thereon and a fastener member assembled with said cushion body, said fastener member having a base portion located in a recess in said cushion body, a tubular nut member extending from said base portion into an aperture in the cushion body and snap fastener leg members also extending from said base portion into apertures in said cushion body, said leg members having yieldable portions extending beyond by a top face of said cushion body to snap through apertures in a telephone base, unit, and each leg'member having a wall engaging spring finger portion to engage a Wall at an aperture through which a leg passes thereby to maintain the mounting foot member in a stable position relative to a telephone or like base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,658,244 Lewis Feb. 7, 1928 2,538,658 Saure Jan. 16, 1951 2,631,330 Becker Mar. 17, 1953 

1. A MOUNTING FOOT MEMBER FOR A DEVICE SUCH AS A TELEPHONE BASE UNIT, SAID FOOT MEMBER HAVING A CUSHION BODY OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL FOR SUPPORTING A TELEPHONE BASE UNIT THEREON AND A FASTENER MEMBER ASSEMBLED WITH SAID CUSHION BODY, SAID FASTENER MEMBER HAVING A BASE PORTION LOCATED IN A RECESS IN SAID CUSHION BODY, A TUBULAR NUT MEMBER EXTENDING FROM SAID BASE PORTION INTO AN APERTURE IN THE CUSHION BODY AND SNAP FASTENER LEG MEMBERS ALSO EXTENDING FROM SAID BASE PORTION INTO APERTURES IN SAID CUSHION BODY, SAID LEG MEMBERS HAVING YIEDLABLE PORTIONS EXTENDING BEYOND A TOP FACE OF SAID CUSHION BODY TO SNAP THROUGH APERTURES IN A TELEPHONE BASE UNIT. 